BNY Mellon Pershing announced Tuesday that Mark Tibergien, the longtime CEO of its Advisor business, will be retiring at the end of May.
As of June 1, Pershing veteran Ben Harrison, currently head of business development and relationship management for Pershing’s advisory segment, will take over CEO duties, reporting to Jim Crowley, CEO of Pershing, the custody unit of BNY Mellon.
According to a statement, Pershing said Tibergien led its efforts to develop a market strategy and an optimal client profile in the market; under his leadership, Pershing grew its RIA assets to over $800 billion at the close of last year.
“Mark’s unique vision and humble leadership have helped build our advisory business from the ground up and made Pershing one of the top players in the RIA custody space,” Crowley said.
A former general assignment newspaper and radio reporter and writer for a financial trade magazine, Tibergien joined Pershing in 2007. Prior to that, he was a principal at accounting and consulting firm Moss Adams.
it's unclear what role Tibergien will play in the financial services industry in the years ahead. Outside of Pershing, he is a strong advocate for financial literacy programs, underwriting a successful high school financial education program at his alma mater in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
Harrison joined Pershing in 2006 and was promoted to lead business development for advisory marketplace solutions on the West Coast in 2013. In 2015, he became head of business development for the RIA custody business, taking on the additional relationship management role in 2019.
Tibergien's retirement comes at a time of upheaval in the RIA industry. With Charles Schwab's announced acquisiton of TD Ameritrade, Pershing recently said it was refining its business model, focusing on smaller RIAs.
As recently as December, on the heels of the announcement of the Schwab-TD Ameritrade deal, Tibergien talked about the demise of hundreds of advisory firms, along with the growth of thousands, in what he called a period of challenge and opportunity for RIAs. He added that advisors will soon have to justify their existence in the business.
"The growth potential for our advisory business has never been better," Harrison said in a statement. "The changes in the RIA custody space are not only reaffirming our long-held strategy of focusing on growth-minded RIAs, but also creating brand new opportunities for us as the only remaining major business-to-business custodian. As we continue to align ourselves ever more closely with the way advisors want to do business, we are excited about the opportunities that lie ahead."